Fence



Ma'lCh 5,1935. Q L TURNER E;- AL 1,993,536

FENCE Filed Aug. 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 E' l mllL LL Immmmmlmm 'largl( J 6 7 F g `F MNNy ag 7M a.

MMTTORNEY Malrch 5, 1935. L TURNER ET AL 1,993,536Y

' FENCE Filed Aug. 3? 1955 2 vShee'cs--Sheel 2 I 32 Wm/T0125 mw/ C. WBY@ ATTORNEYS.

rected toward a str Patented `Mar. 5, 1935 UNITED!v sr Application"August 3,

2 Claims;

This invention relates particularly to a fence, although the inventionis susceptible of use in Window guards, partitions andenclos'ures forva-V rious purposes.

ter which includes parallel rail The invention is especially diucture'ofthis general characs to be connected to supports such asposts and havingtransverse bars or pickets mounted in and extending transversely of therails.

. Onefobject of the invention is to' provide' such a structure embodyingnovelrand improved features of construction whereby thev various partsthe partial assembly of the par ts at the point vof manufacture, vasisnow frequently necessary Ywith known constructions.

Another object is to provide embodying novel and improved the variousparts can be assembled without bolts,

such a structure features whereby rivets, welding or caulking of picketsto the rails, and without the necessity of b'olting therrails to postsor the like.

Further objects of the invention are to provideV novel and improvedpickets, transverse bars'or upright members having integral lugs 4or,projections to abut-the rails for holding the pickets between the railswithout the necessity of separate parts attached fastening members tothe pickets, or separate for connecting the rails to the pickets, andthus to provide a metallic picket or transverse member having novel andimproved integral lugs'formed by'slight deformation of the picket, toengage the rails. Other objects are to provide novel and improved meansfor connecting the rails' to the posts or the like without the usevofseparate bolts or rivets; to provide such a construction whereby therails may be applied to the thereof, whereby the necessity posts at oneside instead of between adjacent posts, for exact spacing of the postsmay be avoided and the sections ofthe rails may be connected togetherandrthereafter connected to the posts, so that ere ction of the enceshall be simple and can be rapidly performed;

to provide an inexpensive'and of the character described; an

durable structure d to obtain other rss einem lor-rijce. l

j FENCE l Chester L. Turner and Frank uch, lrvingtoni'NfuJ, "g

meej-serial 510.683,462 u' advantagesand results as will the followingdescription.

be brought out 'by Referring to the accompanying drawings in whichcorresponding. nated throughout the reference characters,

Figure 1 is a front and like parts .are .desigseveralviews by the 4sameelevation of a portionof a fence constructed in accordance with ourinvention.

tiveview of one of the bers.

upper rail and pickets with portions Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentaryperspecpickets or transverse mem- Figure 3 is a fragmentary rearelevation of the:

the upper portion of one. ofi the of the rail broken away to show themanner of connection of the picket to the rail.

Figure 4 is a similar view of the lower rail and the lower portion ofthe picket.

Figure 5 is a top plan viewY of the constructionV shown in Figure 4.Figure 6 is an view taken on the line 'Figure' "I is a similar ofFigure 1. Y

enlarged fragmentary sectional:

6-6 of Figure l. View taken on the line '1--7 Figure 8 is a topplan-view of the construction shown in Figure '7 with the'rail omitted.

Figure 9 is a rear e levation of one of the rails and the couplingmember for connecting the two rail sections together.

Figure 10 is a transverse sectional View on the line 10-710 of Figure9,-and Figure y11v is an enlarged view of the coupling.

sectional perspective For the purposes of illustrating the principles ofthe invention we have shown it as embodied in a metal picket fencecomprising an upper fuori-- rontal rail A and a lower horizontal rail B,both of which are preferably angle bars formed of metal or othersuitable material.

A plurality of pickets orvtransverse members C are mounted on and extendtransversely through and between the upper and lower rails pickets arepreferably A" and B. As shown, these angle bars formed of metal,

and each picket has projections il integral with the picket adjacent theupper end thereof to cooperate with the gral projections upper rails A,andisimilar inte- 6 at'the lower portion of the picket to cooperate withthe'lower rail B. As

shown', these projections 4 and 6 are formed by slitting or nicking theflanges ofthe picket 'transverselyl inwardly from their edges, asindicated at 3l and 5, and then bending the portions of the flangesadjacent the slits outwardly. -These projections can be forme d easilyand inexpensively,

and are strong and durable. The projections 4 and 6 face in oppositedirections; in other words, the free ends of the projections 4 facetoward the upper end of the picket, while the free ends of theprojections 6 face toward the lower end of the picket. Preferably eachpicket has a projectio 4 and 6 on each flange.

The horizontal flange of 'each of the rails A and B is provided with aplurality of openings 9 to slidably receive the pickets. As shown, theseopenings are approximately triangular, and of such dimensions and shapeas to nicely receive the angle bar picket C as shown in Figure 5.

In assembling the rails and pickets, the lower portion of each picket isinserted through one of the openings 9 in the lower rail, afterwhichAthe upper ends of the pickets are inserted through correspondingopenings in the upper rail, or inversely, the upper rail is slipped overthe ends of the pickets. The rails are brought into snug contact withthe respective projections 4 and 6 so that when the rails are connectedto a fixed support, for example a post, the pickets will be locked inthe rails. Moreover, each picket has a bearing at two spaced pointsupon' both the upper and lower rails formed by the projections 4 and 6in each iiange to provide -a rigid, stable structure and to resisttendency of the rails to move longitudinally relative to each other andcause the pickets to be disposed diagonally between rails.

The rails A and B are preferably formed of sections connected togetherat adjacent ends, and for'the purpose of connecting the rail sectionstogether we have provided a coupling G which is approximately a tubularmember having its opening conforming to the cross-sectional shape of therail, as shown in Figure 10.

In connecting the rail sections, one end of each section is insertedinto the coupling G as shown in Figure 9 until the ends of the railsabut at approximately the middle of the coupling. The coupling isclamped to the rails by set screws 2 mounted in the coupling tofrictionally engage the ends of the rail sections within the coupling.Preferably the coupling is provided with a recess 150 of greatercross-sectional area than the ilanges of the rails which are engaged byset screws, so that ribs l5 are provided adjacent the ends of thecoupling. With this construction, as the set screws 2 are tightened theend portions 2 of the ilange sections are ilexed about the ribs asfulcrums, so as to positively secure the rails and coupling againstrelative longitudinal sliding.

It will be understood that in assembling the fence several of the lowerrail sections will be connected together, according to the convenienceof the builder of the fence, after which the pickets C will be insertedinto the openings 9 of the rail sections. Thereafter, the rail may beconnected to the posts or other support, after which the upper rail maybe iitted over the pickets and attached to the posts or other support.

Any suitable means may be utilized for mounting the rails on the posts,and in Figures 6 and 7 we have shown one such means which includes acollar E slidable upon the post D and adapted to be clamped on the postin proper position by a set screw 1. This collar has at diametricallyopposite sides outwardly projecting loops or eyes 10, the axes of theopenings through which are parallel and at angles to the vertical. Theedges of the openings through the eyes 10 are preferably angular asindicated at 11 and l2 to cooperate with notches 7 and 8 in oppositesides of one arm of an angle clamp F which is adapted to clamp the railbetween its arms and the post D.

In mounting the lower rail B the posts are of course spaced apart asdesired, either in concrete bases or by driving the posts into theground, and the collars E are mounted on the posts at the desiredelevation. 'Ihe angle clamps F are then fitted into the eyes 10 afterwhich the rail is set into the angle clamp as shown in Figure 7. Theangle clamp may then be driven through the opening of the eye 10, ifnecessary, to tightly clamp the rail between the angle clamp and thepost.

In connecting the upper rail to the post, the collars E are inverted andthe angle clamps F are similarly inverted and slipped into the openingof the eye 10. Then the collars and the angle clamps are slippeddownwardly on the post into the proper position to cooperate with theupper rail after which the angle clamps may be driven intothe eyes 10,if necessary to tightly clamp the rail against the post. To ensuredirect contact of the rail with the post the collar is provided with anopening 13 through which the edge of the horizontal liange of the rail`may contact with the post. With the collar in the position to mount thelower rail it will be observed thatthe horizontal ilange of the lowerrail engages the post beyond the upper end of the collar.

It will be observed that only one eye l0 is necessary for connecting therails to a given post, but two eyes are preferably embodied in thecollars E so that should a picket be located opposite one of the eyes,theangle clamp F may be placed in the other eye to clear the picket.

The fence may be ornamented in numerous ways; for example any number ofrails may be used in addition to the two rails A and B so as to permitof the addition of rings, scrolls or other ornamental elements betweenor on the various rails.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the shape and formof the pickets, rails, and other parts of the structure may be widelymodified and changedwithout departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention, and therefore we do not desire to limit ourselves in theconstruction of the invention except as may b e required by thefollowing claims when construed in the light of the prior art. A

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A fence comprising, upper and lower rails, each having a plurality ofopenings spaced longitudinally thereof, and a plurality of picketshaving their end portions extending through said openings of therespective rails, each picket consisting of an angle bar having the edgeof one of yits ilanges laterally slit at its edges at spaced pointslongitudinally of the bar and a portion adjacent each said slit bentlaterally outwardly to form lateral projections one abuttingly overlyingthe lower rail and another abuttingly underlying the upper rail.

2. A metallic fence picket comprising an angle bar having the edge ofeach of its flanges laterally slit at spaced points longitudinally ofthe bar and a portion adjacent each slit bent laterally outwardly toform integral lateral projections for the purpose set forth.

CHESTER L. TURNER. FRANK C. ZUCH.

